Machine for making and filling sealed packages



March 11, 1958 G. A. swARTi I 2,826,025

MACHINE FOR MAKING AND FILLING SEALED PACKAGES Filed July 22.- i954 4Sheets-Sheet 1' March 1 1 1958 G. A. swARTz 2,826,025

MACHINE FOR MAKING AND FILLING SEALED PACKAGES Filed July 22, 1954 4Sheets-Sheet 2 2 INVENTOR. 050%5 4. SW46 March 1 1, 1958 sw z 2,826,025

MACHINE FOR MAKING AND FILLING SEALED PACKAGES Filed July 22,1954 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 650 065 A. 5mm:

. March 11, 1958 I G. A. SWARTZ 2,826,025

MACHINE FORMAKING AND FILLING SEALED PACKAGES Filed July 22. 1954 4Sheets-Sheet 4 37 6'9 H 72' if 3; I I I, 74 i E 0; I I: j 64 if?! 75 55l l "G I 63 7g 36 -J o 1 v I w 105 73 I l I F! 79 3% I E i 75' W I II 74V/ 75 73 2 1 68 INVENTOR.

050/865 A. dwqzrz MACHINE FOR MAKING AND FILLING SEALED PACKAGES GeorgeA. Swar'tz, Millington, N. J., assignor to Ivers- Lee Company, Newark,NHL, a corporation of Bellaware Application July 22,1954, SerialNo.445,001 3 Claims. ((153-480) Thisinvention relates iii-general to themaking and filling of packages-from two lay'ers'of packaging material,for example, strips of cellophane, Pliofilm, metal foil, paper, or thelike, and more particularly the invention contemplates a machineformakingsuch packageswhe'rein two layers of. packaging material are fedinto juxtaposition and sealed together to form apackage or bag havinga'n upwardly facing open end after which an article or commodity isinserted into the package or bag and 'thenthe said open end of thepackage or bag is closed,- a pluralityof suchpackages or bags beingmadeinsuccession from continuous strips of packaging material. Ingenern, theinvention relates to a package and machine of the general type shown inPatents Nos. 2g;3 O;93f0 and- 2606;41'2 dated June6, i944,- and August12', B9 5 2,-res pec tively. in themachines disclosed in these patents,thestrips of material are moved through the machine"eerween coo erating'sealing dies with a step by stop motion, and at the end of each stepofmovement, the die's'pr'ess the strips together simultaneously alongtheir longitudinal margins and transversely to form" 3. rectangularbag-like container having an open end, the two sides and bottom of thebag being formed by'the longitudinaland transverse seals, respectively,and the open end b'eing for me'd'between the unsealed portion of thestrips at theupper en'dsof saidlongitudinal sealed zones. At the sametime, the openend of the next preceding bagli lr container is sealed byagain sealing the strips transversely between the upper endsof saidlongitudinal sealed Thelast-m'entioned bag-like container is thensevered from adjacent partially formed bag-like con- A singlebag-likecontainer having a single comat is thus made, filled andsevered. .s desirable however to produce and market units havrngaplurality or chain of complete packages inte gra'l ly formed, eachpackage containing acompartment. Such-units or strips however presentdilficulty to the user separating or severing one package from itsadjacent package. Therefore a prime object ofthe present invention is toprovide a machine of this character with novel and improved mechanismfor selectively severing units or strips comprising a chain of two ormore complete packages, with scored lines or lines of perforationsbetween adjacent packages whereby the packages may be manually readilysevered by the user.

G'the'r objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich- Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a machineembodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the scoring andsevering mechanism, on an enlarged scale.

"Figure 3 is a top plan viewof the scoring and severing mechanism shownin Figure 2, parts beingbroken away for the sake ofclearness.

Figure 4 is a plan View of one type of'package that can beeformed withmy :machine.

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Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the plane ofthe line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the plane ofthe line 6'--6 of'Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line7--7 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of the line8-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the plane ofthe line 9-9 ofFigure 8.

Figure 10 is a plan view of the ratchet or indexing wheel.

Broadly, the invention contemplates a machine that utilizes two strips 1and 2 of suitable packaging material which are drawn step by step fromsupply rolls into juxtaposition or side by side relation by suitablefeeding mechanism, such as the rolls and feeding mechanism disclosed inPatent No. 2,606,412.

At the end of each step of movement, the two strips 1 and Z are sealedtogether by sealing mechanism A along their longitudinal edges, asindicated at 3, and transversely, as indicated at d, to form a bag-likereceptacle having an open end or mouth facing upwardly between thestrips. Simultaneously,said strips are sealed together transversely, asindicated at 5, of said open end of the nextpreceding bag-likereceptacle that was formed at the end of the immediately preceding stepof movement, so as to form a complete package B.

In the interval between the steps of movement. and after the partialformation of each package above described, the substance or article tobe packaged is .deposited by a filling mechanism C into the mouth of thepreceding bag-like receptacle.

The feeding mechanism draws from the supply rolls, at each step,predetermined quantities of the strips 1 and 2 required to form a singlepackage, and an auxiliary feeding mechanism I) constantly exerts tensionon the strips so as to draw said quantities of the strips downwardlyinto proper position relative to the sealing mechanism A, and at thesame time moves the package strip or chain of bag-like receptaclesdownwardly into the scoring and severing mechanism .19.

As illustrated,'the strips 1 and 2 are fed transversely across the mainvframeo of the machine betweenpairs of guide rollers 7 and downwardlyover guide rollersS, thetwo strips being thus brought into juxtapositionor opposed side by side relationto each other and guided toward thesealing mechanism A, and subsequently the auxiliary feeding mechanism Ddraws the strips downwardly through the sealingmechanism.

The sealing mechanism isshown asincluding two seal ing jaws or blocks 9which are mounted to reciprocate toward and from each other in ahorizontal plane by any suitable mechanism, such as the mechanism shownin Patent No. 2,350,930. The two jaws or blocks 9 are substantiallyidentical in construction and each includes a body portion 10 on whichis mounted, as by bolts 11, a crimping and sealing block 12, whereby thesealing block may have movement relative to the body portion 1-6.

Each sealing block 12 has a recess 13 in its face which is surrounded onthree sides by .a corrugated or serrated rim 14. Where the package is tobe approximately rectangular in shape, as shown, the corrugations arearranged on the rim of the sealing block in a manner corresponding tothree sides of the rectangular pack- 16 within the sealed edges'andbetween the two strips 3 of packaging material to receive the substancebeing packaged.

In forming the packages, the sealing blocks 12 are first separated asshown in Figure l and the packaging strips 1 and 2 are pulled downwardlyinto juxtaposition between the sealing blocks. Thereupon, the sealingblocks are moved toward each other by suitable mechanism such as shownin Patent No. 2,350,930 so as to cause the corrugated rims 14 to pressthe strips 1 and 2 together and partially form a package or bag-likereceptacle having its upper end open between the strips atthe upper endsof the sealing blocks. in other words, the two strips 1 and 2 are sealedtogether along their longitudinal margins 3 and transversely as at 4, toform the bag-like receptacle which is open at its top.

Where the stripsyl and 2 are of thermoplastic material or have athermoplastic coating on their adjacent sides, the sealing blocks 12will have suitable electric heaters 17 (well known in the art) forheating the blocks to soften or fuse the thermoplastic material and sealthe strips together. Where the edges of the strips are provided withadhesive, the heaters may be omitted.

After the strips have been scaled as above described, the sealing blocksare separated and the portions of the packaging strips that will havebeen supplied by the feeding mechanism for the next package will bepulled downwardly by the auxiliary feeding mechanism D preparatory tothe partial formation of the next package. Then the material to bepackaged is released from the hopper 18 of the filling mechanism C andguided through chute 19 and deposited through the open end into thepartially completed package.

Thereupon another package will have been partially completed as abovedescribed, and as the sealing blocks 12 are brought together for thispurpose, the open end of the first formed package will be closed andsealed by the transverse portions of the corrugated rims 14.

As hereinbefore described, the package strips 1 and 2 are constantlypulled downwardly by the auxiliary feeding means D to advance the stripsas the package are formed in succession, and as shown, said feedingmeans comprises two rotatable cylindrical brushes 20 which receive thepackage strips between them, the bristles yieldingly and frictionallyexerting pressure on opposite sides of the strips so that as the brushesare rotated by any suitable means in the direction indicated by arrowsin Figure 1, the package strips will be placed under tension and pulleddownwardly.

In accordance with the present invention, the machine is provided withmechanism for severing a unit or a package strip having a plurality ofintegrally connected complete bag-like receptacles with scored orperforated lines between adjacent receptacles so as to facilitatesevering of the receptacles from the unit or strip manually by the user.This scoring and severing mechanism is supported below the sealingmechanism by a substantially triangular-shaped plate or bracket 21secured at its base portion to one of the movable jaws or blocks 9 ofthe sealing mechanism A by spaced bolts 22 and projecting laterally andoutwardly therefrom. Another plate or bracket 23 is secured to the othermovable jaw or block 9 of the sealing mechanism by spaced bolts 24.Plate 23 is substantially rectangular in shape with extensions 25 at itsends and with an enlargement 26 along one edge midway its ends, saidenlargement being formed with a curved edge 27. A pair of screw-threadedbolts 28 and 29 extend through openings in the extensions 25 of bracket23 and depend therefrom and are fastened thereto by nuts 30 and 31,respectively. An auxiliary frame indicated generally at 32 is adjustablysupported by the bolts 28 and 29. This auxiliary frame includes upperand lower rectangular-shaped plates 33 and 34, respectively, which areheld in spaced relation by posts 35 adjacent the bolts 28 and 29. Midwaytheir ends,

the plates are formed with aligned openings 36. At their opposite ends,the plates 33 and 34 are formed with aligned central extensions 37.

As shown in Figure 5, a shaft member 38 extends centrally throughaligned openings 39 and 40 in the plates 33 and 34, respectively, and isformed with an enlargement or head 41 at its top above plate 33. A disk42 is secured to the bottom end of the shaft by a headed bolt 43 andprojects outwardly of the periphery of the shaft. A finger piece 44 issecured to the underside of the upper plate 33, adjacent its opening 39,and projects into a slot 45 formed in the periphery of the shaft,adjacent its head, to prevent rotation of the shaft.

The shaft member 38 extends loosely through the horizontal upper andlower arms 46 and 47, respectively, of a substantially C-shaped bearingmember 48, the openings 49 and 50, respectively, in said upper and lowerarms having bearing sleeves 51. The body of the G-shaped hearing memberextends through an opening 52 formed in the lower plate 34 of theauxiliary frame. A compression spring 53 is sleeved around the shaftmember 38 below the lower plate 34 and has one end seated on the disk 42and its other end impinges against the sleeve 51 of the lower arm 47 ofthe bearing member whereby said bearing member is urged upwardly alongthe shaft member 38.

An integral extension 54 is formed on the upper horizontal arm 46 of thebearing member 48 and projects toward the openings 36 in the plates 33and 34. An elongated blade 55 is seated on the upper surface of theextension 54 and is clamped thereon by a T-shaped block 56 which issecured to the bearing member 48 by screws 58. Screws 58 and block 56clamp the blade to the extension 54. Blade 55 is formed with spacednotches 59 along its outer projecting edges and serves as a scoring orperforating blade. A similar shaped blade 60, with a continuous cuttingedge, is clamped against the under surface of the extension 54 by ablock 61, similar in shape to the block 56, which is secured to thebearing member 48 by the screws 58.

A shaft 63 extends through an opening 64 in the outer end of the bracketarm 21 and depends therefrom. The shaft is formed with a reducedthreaded upper end 65 forming a flanged shoulder 66 upon which thebracket arm 21 rests. A nut 67 fastens the shaft to the bracket arm. Theother end of the shaft may be formed with a slot 68 to receive a turningtool. A lever member having a cylindrical body 69 formed with a centralpassage 70 is disposed between the outer ends of the extensions 37 ofthe plates 33 and 34. A bolt 71 extends through openings 72 in theplates 33 and 34 and through the passage 70 and is threaded on both endsto receive nuts 73 for fastening the lever member to the plates. Thebody 69 is formed midway its ends with a laterally extendingtriangular-shaped lever arm 74 which is formed at one corner along itsperiphery with an elongated radial slot 75. The slotted end of the levermember spans the shaft 63, between spaced annular flanges 76 on theshaft intermediate its ends.

The shaft 63 also extends through the triangular shaped extension 77 ofa rectangular-shaped bracket arm 78, the body of the bracket armextending outwardly of the outer end of the lever arm 74. The bracketarm 78 is formed with an elongated groove 79 along its outer end for apurpose which will be later described. A platen member 80 isreciprocally mounted between the ends of the plates 33 and 34 of theauxiliary frame adjacent the bracket arm 21. The platen member movesthrough an elongated guide member 81 secured to the plates 33 and 34 byspaced bolts 82, along tracks 83 formed on the guide member. The platenmember is connected to the reciprocable bracket arm 74 by pivoted links84.

Midway the ends of the upper horizontal arms 46 of the bearing member48, along the edges of its opposite sides, there are a pair of opposedopenings 85. Cylindricalblocks 86 are seatedon-the side edges of theupper arm 46 of the bearing member 48 by means of integral stems87fitted in the openings 85 therein. The upper surface of each blockisformed with intersecting slots 88 and 89 for loosely receiving aroller 90 and its shaft 91, respectively. The blocks are arranged inline with flanged sleeves 92 fitted in openings 93 in the upper plate 33of the auxiliary frame and secured therein by welding or the like.

A ratchet or indexing wheel 94 is removably and rotatably' mountedon'the annular head 41 of the shaft 38 and normally rests on'the'flangedends of the sleeves 92 r'nounted in 'theupper plate 33. The'wheel isformed with a series of spaced teeth 95 on its periphery. A circularplate or disk 96'isse'cured to the head 41 of the shaft 38 by a headedscrew'97 and presses the ratchet wheel downwardly, there being a'friction ring 98 secured to the under side'of the disk96 and engagingthe wheel 94 adjacent its periphery. A pin 99 protruding from the uppersurface of the head 41 of the shaft into an opening 100 in the plate 96prevents relative movement of the head and plate. At spaced intervals,on the bottom surface of the ratchet wheel, along its periphery, thereare a series of spaced depressions 101 having tapered wallscommunicating with holes 102 opening out through the top surface of thewheel. The solid portion of the ratchet wheel is normally in engagementwith the rollers 90 as shown in Figure 6 thereby forcing the bearingmember 48 with its blades 55 and 60 downwardly to lowermost positionagainst the action of spring 53 so that the upper perforating or scoringblade 55 is normally in line with the platen member 80.

The mechanism for rotating the ratchet or indexing wheel 94 step by stepincludes an elongated lever bar 103, one end of which is seated in thegroove 79 in the bracket arm 78 and is connected thereto by headed bolts104 passing through an elongated slot 105 formed in the end of the bar.The other end of the lever bar is pivotally connected to one end of arod 106 adjustably fastened to a split clamping sleeve 107 which ispivotally fastened to the upper plate 33 of the auxiliary frame asindicated at 108. A pawl 109 has one end pivotally secured to theclamping sleeve 107 and with its other end normally held in impingingengagement with the teeth 95 of the ratchet wheel 94 by a spring 110.Backward rotation of the ratchet Wheel is prevented by a spring pressedpawl 111 pivotally secured to the upper plate 33 as indicated at 112.

During each sealing operation, the sealing jaws or blocks 9 carry thebrackets 21 and 23 toward each other thereby moving the auxiliary frame32 with its C-shaped bearing member 48, mounting the blades 55 and 60,and the platen member 80 toward each other. The ratchet wheel 94controls the operative position of the blades 55 and 60 relative to theplaten member 80. The solid portion of the wheel is normally inengagement with the rollers 90 of the bearing member 48 thereby normallyforcing the bearing member downwardly so as to normally position thescoring or perforating blade 55 in aligned operative position with theplaten member so that the parts of the machine are normally set forscoring or perforating the packaging strip. The number and spacing ofthe depressions 101 on the ratchet wheel control the number of bag-likereceptacles or packages comprising the unit or strip and thereby thesize of the unit or strip to be severed from the packaging strip.

The ratchet wheel 94 shown in Figure 10 is formed with three pairs ofopposed depressions 101 or six depressions so arranged and spaced thatthe scoring blade 55 and the severing blade 60 are alternately broughtinto operative position with the platen member so that during onesealing operation the scoring plate 55 is in operative position and thetransverse zone of the receptacle is scored or weakened. Upon the nextsucceeding sealing operation, a pair of depressions will have been movedinto alignment with the rollers 90 thus releasing the pres- 6 sure onthespring 53, permitting the spring to pushthe bearing member 48 withthe blades upwardly so as to carry the lower blade '60 into alignedoperative position with the platen member thereby severing a unit orstrip F such as shown in Figure 4, containing a chain of two integrallyconnected complete packages or'bag like receptacles B with a score orpentorated line 113 formed between the packages. The severed units orpackages drop onto an endlessbelt conveyor 114 from which the units orpackages may be removed.

The auxiliary frame 32 may be adjusted vertically on the shafts 28 and29 by an elongated .adjustingsleeve 115, with integral actuating nut116, screw threaded on the shaft 29 so thatrotation of the nut in onedirection or the other will raise or lower the auxiliary frame, andassociated parts.

It will be understood that the indexing wheel 94 may be readilyremoved'and if iti-s desired to produce a unit or strip containing achain of three or more complete packages or receptacles, it is merelynecessary to substitute a ratchet wheel with the necessary number andproper spacing of depressions 101 for the wheel 94 shown in Figure 10 inorder to delay the movement of the cutting blade 60 to operativeposition.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes indetails might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a packaging machine, the combination with means for guiding aplurality of continuous strips of packaging material longitudinally inone direction into juxtaposition, and sealing mechanism comprising apair of opposed sealing blocks movable toward and from each other withsaid strips between them to press and secure said strips together toform a chain of containers, of automatic means for selectively scoringand severing said chain of containers between adjacent containersincluding a movable bearing member, a scoring blade and a cutting blademounted on said bearing member and spaced apart longitudinally of thepath of movement of said chain of containers, means mounting saidbearing member on one of said sealing blocks, a platen mounted on theother sealing block, spring means normally urging said bearing member inone direction to bring the severing blade into operative juxtapositionto said platen, indexing means actuated in timed relation to saidsealing blocks to cause movement of said bearing in the oppositedirection to bring the scoring blade into operative juxtaposition tosaid platen, and means for causing relative movement of said platen andblades to cut and sever said chain of packages.

2. In a packaging machine as defined in claim l, said indexing meansincluding an indexing wheel mounted on said bearing member andoperatively connected to one of said sealing blocks for step by steprotation in timed relation thereto, rollers carried by and protrudingfrom the upper surface of said bearing member, said wheel normallyoverlying said rollers and holding the bearing member against theinfluence of said spring with the scoring blade in operativejuxtaposition to the platen, said wheel having depressions into whichsaid rollers are movable under the influence of said spring to permitmovement of the bearing member by said spring to bring the severingblade into operative juxtaposition to the platen.

3. In a packaging machine having movable blocks for sealing and formingtwo continuous strips of packaging material into a package comprising achain of closed baglike containers, mechanism for selectively eitherscoring or severing the chain of containers between adjacent closedbag-like containers including a movable platen member operativelyconnected to one of said movable blocks and movable therewith, a bracketconnected to the other of said movable blocks and movable therewith,

a frame supported and carried by said bracket, a movable C-shapedbearing member mounted on and carried by said frame, a pair of spacedscoring and severing blades carried by the bearing member, rollerscarried by and protruding from the upper surface of the upper horizontalarm of said C-shaped bearing member, an indexing wheel supported by saidframe adjacent said bearing member, said wheel normally pressing on saidrollers for holding the bearing member with its scoring blade inoperative position with the platen member, means of connection betweenthe wheel and one of the movable blocks including a bracket arm, anelongated lever arm connected at one end to said bracket arm, a pawloperatively connected to the other end of said lever arm, and beingoperatively connected to said wheel, means connecting said lever arm toone of said blocks for oscillating said lever arm, said wheel havingspaced depressions for releasing the normal holding engagement of thewheel on the rollers, and a compression spring engaging the bottomhorizontal arm of the C-shaped bearing member for References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 392,362 Ridley Nov. 6,1888 1,544,393 Hatcher June 30, 1925 2,245,827 Salfisberg June 17, 19412,350,930 Salfisberg June 6, 1944 2,379,937 Sloan July 10, 19452,563,071 Salfisberg Aug. 7, 1951 2,606,412 Salfisberg Aug. 12, 19522,749,691 Lewis June 12, 1956

